The Independent Positioning System is a small thing, not larger than the base of coffee mug. Still, it is in the smallest things these days that the largest ideas seem to be hiding. In this case: the future of floor display technology.

As a first of its kind – SafeLine has now released the first fully independent floor display system without using any moving parts. To explain the story behind the independent floor display system, we have to travel back a couple of years in time.

Break new ground

In 2015, SafeLine started a collaboration with the most prestigious university of science and engineering in Sweden: The Royal Institute of Technology.

Together they would work, combining the institute’s knowledge and the state-of-the-art quality from the largest manufacturer of lift safety equipment in Europe – to further research and break new ground. They came up with the IPS.

Parallel: they also started to develop a floor display that would match the IPS and be its brains so to say. Separately they would not amount to much, but combined they would enable a floor display system completely independent from the lift controller – without using any moving parts.

"Simplicity has been the key word"

"It’s machine learning and smart sensors. Something much discussed and sought for in the industry", says Isaac Skog, associate professor in Signal Processing at the Royal Institute of Technology, who helped develop the algorithms for the IPS.

The package functions like this: the IPS is installed on top of the car and emits signals with the help of its built-in accelerometer to the intelligent floor display FD1600. Only one learning journey is necessary, from there on the FD1600 reads the signals and can interpret them by the amount of how many signals it’s receiving, and display the accurate information.

"Simplicity really has been the key word, with the products being very installer-friendly and the system being very quick and easy to configure", comments Lars Gustafsson, R&D manager at SafeLine.

Two hours of active instalment

He also explains that separating the floor display system from the lift controller has many benefits, requiring no complicated wiring and no additional documentation for the lift technician, only taking about two hours of active instalment.

SafeLine’s long history of paying attention to details is also recognizable with this package. Using the same app for both units, the small sizes and the size-wise backwards compatibility of the FD1600 (leaving no hole in the cabin wall) all makes for a very smooth installation.

Collaboration is being continued

"It really means that there are no more excuses anymore not to have a floor display system", Gustafsson adds laughing. As the collaboration was a success – it is now being continued for further research.

That means there will be more innovative products coming – to the benefit of both science and SafeLine’s clients. The IPS & FD1600 – now available for sale in the SafeLine webshop.